Association Perspective
Scott J. Knoer, MS, PharmD, FASHP, APhA EVP and CEO
I just got back from a 2-week APhA thank-you and listening tour across the state of Florida. I visited 19 sites, including independent pharmacies, chain pharmacies, hospitals, colleges of pharmacy, and a compounding pharmacy; I ended the trip at Clinical Pharmacology Services, where I spent time with Florida Pharmacists Association President Dan Buffington, PharmD, MBA, FAPhA, and my son, Alex Knoer, who is completing a residency with Dan.
Why did I live out of a rental car and stay at hotels for 2 weeks? First, I wanted to thank our frontline caregivers for their incredible service to our patients during the last 2 years of this pandemic. Next, I wanted to listen. My office is in Washington DC, but DC is not reality. I wanted to visit our pharmacy caregivers where they work and hear the issues firsthand.
So I did a Gemba Walk, which is one of the key components of the Lean management philosophy. “Gemba” is derived from the Japanese word “genba,” meaning “the actual place,” and doing a Gemba walk means going to where the work happens. Leaders can neither understand nor appreciate the issues impacting their teams unless they go to where the work happens and listen to those doing the actual work.
What did I hear? A lot. Too much for this article, so I will summarize:
- PBMs are killing our practice. (I heard this from both our independent and chain partners.)
- Colleges of pharmacy are struggling to attract students and keep faculty.
- Pharmacists need to be able to practice at the top of their license, and we can’t do this without provider status.
- Our busy community pharmacists and technicians are under incredible pressure.
- There is a crisis in attracting and keeping pharmacy technicians.
- Our independent and compounding pharmacies who are successful are entrepreneurs who adapt constantly.
- Our college of pharmacy faculty members are incredibly engaged in our profession and want our students to succeed.
- Our pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy students have served valiantly on the frontlines, but they are tired.
I had all these assumptions prior to my trip, and hearing this confirmed my suspicions and strengthened my resolve to change things. I was impressed by how many people our teams treat and the need for their services; for example, on a Monday morning in one location they swabbed patients in the parking lot while phones rang off the hook. These APhA members pushed through, even though they are short staffed because their employees tested positive.
APhA listens. We know the issues. We are fighting for you. ■